It Is Time to Reconsider Multicast
Authors: Louis Navarre, François Michel, Olivier Bonaventure
Published: IAB workshop on Environmental Impact of Internet Applications and Systems, 2022
Abstract:
Multicast enables efficient point-to-multi-points communications. However, due to several deployment issues, multicast research slowed in the early 2000s and many of its use- cases were replaced by Content Delivery Networks and unicast communications. We argue that despite its past deployment complexities, multicast should be reconsidered to build a more energy-efficient Internet. We highlight using measurements in emulated networks the benefits of multicast regarding CPU cycles and traffic volume. Moreover, we discuss how the past limitations could be solved with today’s Internet architecture and protocols, such as the Bit Index Explicit Replication mechanism.
Recommended citation: Navarre, L., Michel, F., & Bonaventure, O. (2022). It Is Time to Reconsider Multicast. In IAB workshop on Environmental Impact of Internet Applications and Systems (Vol. 2022).
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